The US State Department annual report criticized the human rights situation in Egypt during 2014, citing the excessive use of force by the security forces and the continuation of what it described as the unlawful killings.
The report, however, which was announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry at a press conference yesterday evening, said that the most praiseworthy developments that occurred last year were the adoption of the new Egyptian Constitution through a referendum in January 2014, and the holding of presidential elections.
The biggest challenges facing Egypt in terms of human rights included the excessive use of force by the security forces with impunity, and what the report described as unlawful killings, torture and suppressing civil freedoms, as well as imposing constraints on freedom of expression, the freedom of peaceful assembly and forming associations, according to the report.
The report pointed out that the government arrested thousands of citizens who participated in protests against it.
Terrorist attacks have caused the arbitrary deprivation of citizens from normal life and targeted civilians, schools and houses of worship, said the report.
Officials from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry have yet to comment on the report.
The US abandoned in its report its previous approach, which highlighted the non-governmental entities. The report highlighted the IS terrorist practices.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
